Police: Teen's flag T-shirt put him in danger

Undercover agent says shirt could send wrong message

A flag-print T-shirt worn on the first day of school got a lot of attention, but not the kind the Upstate teen might have expected.

The shirt that Kristi Davis' son wore to Wade Hampton High School got him pulled aside by a school resource officer who told him he couldn't wear it anymore.

The American Eagle shirt has a blue bandana-print square in one corner, and red stripes of bandana print that make an American flag pattern.

Davis said, "Basically, the resource officer pulled him to the side and told him that this was inappropriate -- it was 'gang activity,' and he was no longer able to wear it."

Davis said she was upset when she heard what happened and wanted an explanation.

"I took offense to that," she said. "And I went back to the school the next day."

School officials said they backed the resource officer's decision.

News 4 took the shirt to an undercover officer who handles juvenile gang-related crimes and activity in Greenville County.

He said the problem is the part of the print that looks like a blue bandana, a sign used by a major national gang.

"A lot of times, gangs will use a bandana, certain colors different colors, to show their affiliation," he said.

The undercover officer said the resource officer at Wade Hampton did the right thing for the school and for the young man who was wearing the shirt.

"He was not accused of being in a gang," the officer said. "But if somebody who did use those colors saw that and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time it could have been a dangerous situation for him."

Davis said she hoped parents take note of what happened to her son and of what their kids are wearing.

"I didn't have a clue," she said. "I didn't know that we are talking about gangs here. I would have never bought it."

Davis said she took the shirt back to American Eagle, and they replaced it for free with a different shirt.

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